Apparatus for burning brick



Oct. 5 26.

R. W. WIEDERWAX APPARATU S FOR BURNING BRICK 2 -Shet 1 Filed 3, 1924 I I l I Oct. 5 1926.

R. w. WIEDERWAX APPARATUS FOR B URNING BRICK 2 Sheets Sheei 2 Filed Oct. :5, 1924 Patented Oct. 5, 1926.

ROBERT 'W'AiTOM *GEIST MANUEAGTURING cor/iPANY, or Amharic aim'nnw J'ERsEY, noon-1 03A TION or DELAWARE. v

sa esman Anaemia my, amne t ass stants Assi nees non sesame Enron.

Api)1ica;tion"fi1dOctober 3,1924. Serial "N5. 7415461.

This invention relates to an apparatus for burning bricks "and more particularlytoan apparatus for carrying out and controlling fa'cture of bricks require severakdays fortheir completion and result'in bricks which are not uniform as to color I and, many of the bricks are cracl'ied 'and c'hipped due largely to the ineificiency of the, present methods of .practising I the Water smoking step.

It is thepr'esent practise to initially place the plastic. bricksin the kiln and burn in the fire openings of the'kiln pieces of ivood saturated in oil, the Wood occasionally "being replenished to slowly heat the "bricks and drive off a large, portion of' thewvater contained therein after which the usual ties are bui'lt'to'greatly raise the temperature of the bricksto complete the burning or baking operation. The initial step wherebythe e'Xcess tva-ter is driven'ofi is commonly known as ivater smoking and is a critical and slotvly accomplisliedstep' in'brick making, ordinarily requiring about two days for its completion and necessitating'the constant attendance or about four operators when the'process is carried out'in a kiln ofaverage size. "It has beenfound exceedingly difficult to maintain evenly a correct temperature during the fwater smoking of the bricks. The temperature must be sutficie'ntly high to evaporate a'lai'g epor ftion of the ater content of the bricks, but

not suiliciently high to generate steam, since such a temperature'has been. found to cause chipping and splitting of'the I bricks due to small explosions of steam generated within the bricks.

In the practiseoft he present metliod of Water'smokingit has been found that the combustion of thetfu el employed is'n'ot complete and the bricks oftenbecomegreatly discolored duringthe livater lsinbking op era-tion; particularly adjacent the a1'clies.'t lue to the condensation of unburned- 0H, sulfur deposits, etc.

An important object'ofi the present invention is to provide an apparatus Wherebythe temperature of the' bricks may be readily controlled duringthe Water-smoking opcration so that the excesswater, efficiently may be driven 'oli vvithout raising the ternperature to such a point as to cause splitting and cracking of the bricks.

A further objectof the [invention is to provide an apparatus for carrying out the water smoking operation in such a manner as to prevent discoloration of the .bricks thus i'e'sultmg in the manufacture of bricks ofi1n proved quality and more uniform appearance.

still further object or the invention 0011-. "templates the completion er the ivater smoking operation in a 'mhch shbrterperl'od of tlme than' s now necessarywith the "attendance of only one or two operators.

The present niethod-consists generally in providing a preheating tunnel provided yvith damper controlled outlet pipes le'ading into the ash pits of-a ki'ln, highly .efiicient type of oil burner being mounted ad'jacent the inlet] o eningof the tunnel for'heating the airth'erein. The inlet opening of the tunnel is preferably considerably larger than the burner employed-so t-hat'the aspirati'ng action of the burner results in introducing into thetiinnel large' quantities of air'which becomes heated by t'he"burner aftenivhich it is'iiltrorluced' through the out let p pes into the a 11"-pi-ts oftheltiln. The

products of combustion" from the-burner and the heated air ixed "therewith flow up- Wardly through the grates commonly employed, into the arches formed when placing the bricks in the kiln, from \vh ence they circulate betWeen' theindividuahbricks to raise the temperature thereof todrive o'fi" a large portion of the Water. vThe. burner easily maybe controlled to provide' air and products of combustion otthe'proper telnyperaturoand the dampers! may be'regulated tofeed equal amounts ofthe heat ed air and products of combustion *intoeach-of the ash pits. p

The Water smoking-operationaccording to the present invention usually may becomlpl'eted in the average kiln in about ten hours after hichthe burning or baking operation may be started.

In carrying out the last'step ofthe' method I prefer to arrange an oil burner in each of the tire boX openings of the kiln, the burners employed preferably being of a type wherein combustion of the oil is complete and wherein the individual burners may be controlled to maintain the bricks at a proper temperature. The baking burners are not in operation during the water smoking step of the method but are lighted immediately after the completion of the water smoking step and are adapted to maintain the bricks at a relatively high temperature during the baking operation. By the use of the water smoking method above outlined the proper percentage o water may be driven off from the bricks and the latter properly set whereby the burning operation may be completed and it has been found that the com pleted bricks present a uniform appearance without discoloration of any kind and the bricks are of improved quality.

In the drawings I have shown several organizations of apparatus elements for carrying out the method. In this showing,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a kiln showing the invention applied,

Figure 2 is a. fragmentary perspective view of one of the heating tunnels,

Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the kiln taken through one of the grates and showing the bricks in elevation therein,

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view through one of the walls of the kiln taken through one of the fire box openings, and,

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view of a circular kiln showing the heating tunnel applied.

Referring to the drawings the numeral designates a Dutch type of kiln having opposite walls 11 provided with the box openings 12 and ash pits 13. The spaces between the walls 11 are open at the ends as shown and a canopy (not shown) is employed for covering the kiln in the usual manner. As shown in Figures 3 and a, a floor 1 1 is provided within the kiln and grates 15 are arranged within the fioor as shown. The grates 15 correspond in number and arrangement to the fire box openings 12. The kiln just described is preferably of the usual type of Dutch kiln and forms no part of the present invention.

Referring to Figures 1 and 1. the numeral 16 designates a plurality of oil burners each mounted in one of the fire box openings 12, asclearly shown. The burners 16 are preferably of the type shown in my prior Patent No. 1,460,631, granted July 3, 1923, since such burner has been found particularly adapted for use in'connection with the present method. Each burner 16 employs preheating retorts (not shown) for the oil and steam, the oil being supplied through a feed pipe 17 and the steam through a feed pipe 18, as shown in Figure 4:. Steamis fed to the burner nozzle through a pipe 19 controlled by a valve .20 while the oil is fed to the nozzle by a pipe 21 controlled by a Valve 22. The burners are preferably mounted in the manner shown in Figure 1 with their inner ends projecting a short distance into the fire box openings. 1

The numeral 23 designates as a whole a preheating tunnel preferably formed of brick and substantially U-shaped as clearly shown in Figure 2. The tunnel is provided with an interior unrestricted passage 24 closed at the outer ends to prevent the'escape of heated air and products of combustion from the tunnel. An inlet branch 25 is provided for the tunnel having a relatively large inlet opening 26 in which is mounted a burn-er 27 preferably of the type previously described. It will be obvious that the burner only partially fills the inlet opening 26 and when the burner is in operation its aspirating action results in injecting a large quantity of air into the tunnel through the opening 26 as will be obvious. As shown in Figure 1, the opposite sides of the tunnel 23 are arranged against the outer faces of the walls 11 of the kiln and a pipe 28 leads from the passage 2% into each of the ash pits 13. Dampers 29 are arranged in the pipes 28 and are adapted to be controlled by handles 30 arranged above the tunnel as clearly shown.

In Figure 5 of the drawings I have shown a circular tunnel 31 applied to a circular kiln 32 of the usual construction. The tun- .nel 31 is provided with an inlet branch 33 in the outer end of which is mounted a burner 34 preferably similar to the burner 27 previously described. Pipes 35 are arranged within the ash pit openings of the kiln to permit heated air and products of combustion to flow into the ash pits from the tunnel 31. Each fire boX opening of the kiln 32 is provided with a burner 36, also preferably of the type previously described.

The bricks to be water smoked and burned are placed in the kiln in the usual manner as shown in Figure 3. The bricks 37 are formed to the proper shape while in a plastic condition in the usual manner and are arranged to provide arches 38 over each of the grates 15, tie rows 39 being provided in the usual manner to prevent the arches from collapsing.

In carryingout the present method the plastic bricks are arranged in the kiln in the usual, manner as illustrated in Figure 3, an arch being provided over each of the grates 15 throughout both sides of the kiln as will be obvious. The burner 27 is then started and products of combustion are in jected into the passage 24: as will be obvious. The aspirating actionof the burner 27 causes large quantities of air to be drawn than those toward the outer ends of the tun- 1 nel in order that the desired result just de scribed may be accomplished. It has been found that by proper operation of the burner 27 and dampers 29 a correct temperature of the bricks easily may be maintained whereby the water smoking step of the method may be efficiently carried out. The burner 27 is maintained in operation approximately ten hours during which time the desired percentage of water will be evaporated from the bricks. Complete combustion of the oil from the burner 27 is assisted by the aspirated air passing into the tunnel and the air forms the principal heating medium for water smoking the bricks. This fact permits the water smoking operation to be carried out without depositing unburned oil, sulfur, etc., on the bricks adjacent the arches and discoloration of the bricks is effectually prevented. By maintaining an even temperature in the bricks beneath the boiling point of the water therein, splitting and chipping of the bricks during the initial step of the method also is effectually prevented and the operation is carried out in "much less time than is required by the method now used.

After the water smoking operation has been completed the burners 16 are started to raise the temperature of the bricks to the proper point for carrying out the burning or baking operation. The aspirating action of the burners 16 also results in introducing large quantities of heated air into the spaces between the bricks so that the latter are properly heated to complete the operation without depositing any foreign matter on the bricks so as to cause discoloration. The water smoking operation having been previously carried out in an eflicient manner the burning or baking step of the method may be completed without danger of chipping or splitting the bricks. The most critical step in the method, however, is the water smoking step and by the method just described this step may be carried out in .a very eficient manner and the burners require little attention during the completion of the step of the method.

The same method previously described is also followed when the apparatus is employed in connection with a circular kiln as shown in Figure 5. The burner 34 is operated in the same manner for completing the water smoking operation after which the burners 36 .are operated to complete the burning or baking step of the method.

While I have described in detail the preferred practice of my method and forms of apparatus by which it may be carried out,

it is to be understood that the details of procedure of the method and the forms of apparatus described may be widely varied without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. An apparatus of the character described comprising a tunnel arranged in proximity to a kiln and provided with a series of spaced pipes projecting thereinto, said tunnel being provided with a relatively large inlet opening, and an oilburner arranged in and spaced from the sides of said open ing, said burner being adapted to project a flame into said tunnel and to continuously introduce air thereinto by aspiration of the flame.

2. An apparatus of the character described comprising a substantially U-shaped tunnel having its armsarranged against the walls of the kiln opposite the ash pit openings therein, pipes carried by the arms of the tunnel and projecting into the ash pits, dampers arranged in said pipes, said tunnel being provided with a relatively large inlet opening, .an oil burner adapted to project a continuous flame into sald tunnel through said opening, and to continuously introduce air into said tunnel by the aspiration of the flame, and an oil burner arranged in each fire box opening of the kiln.

3. An apparatus of the character described ROBERT WALTOM WIEDERWAX. 

